Free Bird
by Get Real Or Die
Summary: All she has to do is ask. Part of the 'Camera Invasion' stories. Oneshot.


Pairing: The focus is Lita/Randy Orton even though she's technically still with Edge

Summary: All she has to do is ask

Rating: Maybe PG 13 for violence

Spoilers: RAW 7/03/06.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters mentioned. They belong to Vince McMahon and the rest of his family

Notes: I thought of this story when I was listening to my old Lynyrd Skynyrd records. If you don't know who they are, they wrote this song called "Sweet Home Alabama". They have this other great song called "Free Bird" and that was the song that inspired me to write this fic. The title's a nod to that.

Free Bird 1/1

DX was banned from the building, but they were getting the last laugh. They had control of the production truck and they were enjoying being in control. Cycling through the cameras in the arena was fun and it was pissing off Vince McMahon. Shawn caught a flash of red and turned to Hunter. "What was that? Go back to camera 24." Hunter flipped rapidly through the cycle and stopped on what Shawn had seen. They both gaped when they saw it was Lita...

Getting her ass kicked by Edge.

Shawn moved to leave but Hunter stopped him. "They have security watching the entrances. There's nothing we can do except broadcast it to the building and hope someone helps her out." Shawn nodded and went to talk with one of the technicians, praying with all he had that she wouldn't be too hurt.

Lita's POV

She didn't know what she did wrong. Hell, she never knew but it had to be something she said. Probably. They had been talking and he had just snapped and started pounding her into the ground. No matter how many times it happened, Lita couldn't find a pattern so she could never avoid it. She could run but like Edge once put it, where would she go? No one gave a damn about her and she was starting to care less too. How bad was a person's life when they stopped caring about anything except surviving to the next Monday seriously uninjured? Lita just took the hits he gave her and prayed to God that he wouldn't break something more substantial than the rib he cracked once.

Edge grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall. Lita winced but stilled in fear. Her eyes widened in anxiety. Unable to talk completely, she whispered hoarsely. "Please... neck... plate." Edge slammed her into the wall again. "Shut up!" Lita looked into his eyes and knew he was mad enough to put her on the shelf despite the title match she had tonight. Going completely limp, she tried to concentrate on his face even as she tried not to pass out. He put his face close to hers. "You're going to go out there and you're going to win the Women's title. The fact that you don't want to doesn't factor into the equation at all. Do I make myself clear?" She nodded, her face red as a tomato from the lack of air. "How clear am I being?" Looking into his face past the black spots trying to converge on her vision, she answered. "Inescapably." He smiled charmingly. "Good." Opening his hand, Edge dropped her like a sack. "I'll walk you out for your match." Then he left.

Something was wrong. Even though he had let go, Lita still couldn't breathe. Flipping over onto her back she raised her right arm with the last bit of strength she had and chopped herself in the throat as hard as she could. The ensuing gasp sounded loud in the empty room but Lita couldn't hear it since her ears had become stopped up. When they popped, she was surprised to hear how loud she was sobbing. Looking up at the ceiling through her swollen eye, she spoke to herself after her tears finally subsided. "Getting my ass kicked seems to be the only thing I'm good at. I should be proud of the things I'm good at." A voice to her right spoke. "The fact that you take a good punch isn't an accomplishment Lita." Turning her head, she didn't even try to feign surprise at the sight of Randy Orton standing at her side.

A wince crossed Orton's face. "He really did a number on you, didn't he?" Lita hauled herself up from the position she laid in on the ground to lean against the wall. "I guess. How long have you been here?" Orton shrugged and leaned against the wall angled next to her. "I was in the hall when Edge came out of the room. I got here in time to see you hit yourself in the throat. Do you want me to get the trainers?" She gingerly touched her neck. "I'll be fine." Grimacing at the blood dripping off of her face, she moved to wipe it away but stopped when a handkerchief entered her vision. Lita went still and let Orton's hands tilt her face upwards and hold the handkerchief to her face. "Hold it here." Lita complied. "That should stem the blood flow." Orton rose from his position kneeling at her side and resumed his stance against the wall. Lita looked into his face and gestured to the handkerchief she held to her face. "I'll get this dry cleaned and get it back to you as soon as possible." Orton shrugged. 'Keep it. Is anything broken?" Lita touched her ribs and her face. "No, I don't think so."

Orton crouched next to her. "Is your knee okay?" Edge didn't touch her knee this time. "Yeah." He nodded clearly in thought. "Is your neck?" Remembering the fear she felt earlier, Lita swallowed as she touched her neck. "Yeah. It held up." Orton shook his head. "Sometimes I don't think the cosmos will be happy until you break your neck completely. The fates seem to have taken a vendetta out against it." Lita snorts and winces when she jostles herself. "I guess." Orton grabbed her chin with his hand and forced her head backwards so he could study the bruises on her throat. "I don't think you're going to be able to cover these up but..." Orton stood up and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jar of Cocoa Butter. "If you put this on them, they should fade in time." Lita took the jar and set it next to her. "What do I owe you?" Orton smiled a bitter grin. "You don't have anything I want Lita so you don't owe me anything. He expects you to fight in a title match tonight?" Lita shook her head even as she closed her eyes. "He expects me to win. I will." Looking down at her, he spoke slowly. "You can't even stand and you're supposed to win the Women's Title tonight? No one ever said Edge didn't have audacity."

Lita glared at him. "No one asked you Orton." He held up his hands in supplication. "I won't say anything then. I just don't want to be the one that finds your body when Edge finally snaps." She looked away from his searching look. "Go away." Nodding to himself, Orton continued to talk. "I can see it now. One day, you'll breathe entirely too loud for his taste and he'll go berserk. He'll just..." She stood up quickly and shoved him. "Fuck you. I don't ask for your help and I don't ask for your opinions, so why are you still here?" Backing away from her, he gestured to the bench in the room. "You should sit down." She slumped on the bench in obvious pain. "Why are you here Orton? Why are you always here? Every single time you hand me a handkerchief and tell me to keep it. Every single time, you're right there helping me sit up after I take yet another beating. Why?" He looked at her before sitting in a random steel chair. "It fascinates me how utterly miserable you have the ability to allow yourself to be." She snapped her head up. "You find it amusing?" He shook his head. "I didn't say that. You said it yourself; it seems like I'm always here. Every time I ask if you want to go to the trainers and every time you tell me no. Every time you say no, I don't find that amusing. I find it sad because no matter what I do, no matter how much I try to help when I have no idea what I'm doing, no matter how sick to my stomach it makes me to see you lying in a pool of your own blood, I don't know why. I have no idea why you put up with it and that kills me."

He sounded genuinely distressed and Lita looked at him in incredulity. "I love him." Orton grimaced and looked down at the floor as he spoke bitterly. "Yeah, I suppose you think you do. And you'll "love" him until the day he kills you. Lita, you can't change him. No matter how much you want him to change, he won't. He'll keep beating you up and sacrificing you in the ring. And..." Sighing shudderingly, Orton looked up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're not in love with him Lita. You're in love with being miserable because for you, it's the status quo. You do such a good job at lying to yourself and it sucks because you deserve better. You don't deserve this and I hate the fact that you don't know it." He looked down at her and shook his head at the pure determination on her face. Getting up from the chair, he knelt beside the bench and took her hand. "You're determined to stick this out and I have always admired the fact that you're determined Lita. But determination can lead to stubbornness. You can't win and all you have to do is realize that. I'll do anything you ask me to. If you want me to beat Edge's ass, I'll stomp him until there's nothing left. If you want me to take you home to North Carolina, I will. Hell, I'll even take you with me to Missouri if you want. Tell me what you want and I'll do it. Just don't tell me you love him when I..." He choked on the rest of his sentence.

There was a long moment of silence before Lita broke it. She disentangled her hand from his and spoke woodenly. "I want you to go away." He stood up and brushed off the knees of his jeans and looked down at her bowed head. "No you don't. That's why you won't look at me. You want me to stay right here. I can hear it in your voice. You're lying and that's okay because whether you know it or not, you can't lie to me Lita. I'm not any of the rest of these chumps that'll take your bullshit just because I don't want to pay any attention to you. So yeah, you can't lie to me but you can lie to yourself as long as you want to. I have all the time in the world Lita, but you don't. Whether you know it or not, Edge isn't all there. One day, he's going to put you down permanently and that'll be all she wrote. That'll be the day I come in here ready to help you out but you won't be breathing. That'll be the day I kill Edge and I'll succeed because he won't have you there to throw in front of him to delay me." He put his hand on top of her head and paused for a long moment before removing it. "Good luck on your match tonight." Then he left and she promptly burst into tears, completely ignoring the rawness in her throat and the bruises on her ribs.

The way she figured, it should hurt like hell when you cry.

DX's POV

Hunter and Shawn looked at each other in shock, before switching to the camera outside of the locker room.

Orton had his head leant against the door with his hand on the doorknob. Lita's sobs can just barely be heard from inside the room. He stands there for a long moment before squaring his shoulders and letting go of the doorknob. It's another long moment before he finally walks away.

The door is wet from his tears.

End camera invasion


End file.
